15 seconds is enough to make your online marketing easy! Tout [Ta-out] is Twitter for a video. It allows you to update status with a 15-second video and to share with your audience, followers, and customers through major social media channels on mobile and desktop computers. In this short guide, you’ll learn 5 online marketing strategies with Tout that you can use to achieve ROI for your brands. About Tout Tout provides online social networking and microblogging service that enable over 12 million Touters (Tout users) to share 15-second messages on their videos. You can update 15-second Tout videos and share your status in real time via Tout.com, Facebook, Twitter, other various social media channels, SMS, and email. Tout’s reply feature enables users to immediately join a face-to-face conversation with other Touters and to get quick replies to their Touts. What ROI can you achieve by using Tout?

• Have a conversation with your audience through Tout`s reply feature.
• Drive traffic to the other social media channels
• Promote your company, product, or promotion
• Create the behind the scenes Tout
• Make a well-organized Tout video calendar

How to use Tout as your online marketing strategies to achieve your ROI:

1. Have a conversation with your audience through Tout’s reply feature.

If you reply by videos to someone’s Tout, you can immediately engage in a face-to-face conversation with other Touters. What can retailers learn from this?

• Pick an interesting topic that you would like to discuss with your followers. You can share your story to host a conversation like you talk with your friends at a cafe. Also, you can ask a question for discussion or talk about hot issues around the world just for fun! At the end of your Tout, ask them to leave solicit comments on your Tout.

Example: Jessica Alba`s “Question Tout” at Self Magazine Tout channel *Note: The video with a blue dialogue balloon is the reply Tout.

• To build more intimate relationship with them, upload “Thank you Tout” for the audience who responded to your Tout.

Example: Jessica Alba`s Thank you Tout at Self Magazine Tout channel *Note: As you see at the bottom of Thank you Tout, there’re social buttons that you can reply to Touts by clicking of the blue reply box. Also, you can like your favorite Tout by clicking of the heart icon, retout into your account by clicking of the restore icon, and share them on other social media channels by clicking of the arrow icon.

• Manage notification setting to track every reply to your Touts by email. How?

1) Log into Tout.com 2) Click your name, next to your profile image in the top right corner. 3) Click “Settings” from the drop down menu. 4) From settings, select the “Notifications” tab and check the boxes you would like to receive by email. 5) Click “Save” when you’re done.

(Source Tout FAQ: http://www.tout.com/faq)

2. Drive traffic to the other social media channels

Tout has two elements that enable you to obtain more fans and followers on your other social media channels. First of all, most of Touters are currently heavy social network users. They enjoy sharing their status updates and interesting content with their friends and other web users in real time. Another element is you can share Touts via email, SMS, and various social networks. These prompt and multiple sharing opportunities will be the perfect combination to promote your Touts and other platforms. What can retailers learn from this?

• You can directly import your contact list through web or mobile to share videos through SMS and email.
• Add specific hashtags to your Tout. Hashtags will classify your Touts into relevant categories and easily navigate the audience to your Touts. There are 3 methods of Tout hashtags.

1) Retrieve a hashtag’s Touts. It returns a list of Touts related to specific hashtags. Your app could display this data when someone clicks or searches a hashtag in your app. 2) Retrieve a list of trending hashtags. It returns a list of trending hashtags. 3) Retrieve suggested hashtags. It allows your app to lookup hashtags based on a search string. It returns a list of suggested hashtags matching the search criteria.

(Source Tout Developer: http://developer.tout.com/api-overview/hashtags-api )

3. Promote your company, product, or promotion

As many brands have used Tout for their marketing tools, this short video is becoming one of the most effective promotion that brings great results in a very short period. It enables brands to entice target audience and turn them into followers, repeated visitors, and even loyal customers. What can retailers learn from this?

• Announce your new product launching at Tout.

Launch your new product at Tout instead of spending a million dollars on advertising. Tout generates word-of-mouth effects through available multiple sharing channels. Also, you can get immediate feedback from followers and listen to their honest and critical opinions about new product. Example: Introduction of new talk show by Jenny McCarthy at The Talk Tout channel

• Showcase whole promotional videos or TV commercials at your Tout channel like using Twitter. Choose the most stunning 15-second clips out of videos or commercials and share short snippets with your audience. Also, add URLs of sites that have full video clips for the interested group of people.

Example: RedBull’s freeskiing competition Tout

• Create sub-contests or sub-events at Tout to increase awareness and participants of main contests and events. Let’s look at the great example of Zappos!

Example: Zappos’ CEO published a book for business advice, called “Delivering Happiness.” This bestselling book has inspired to grow a movement that spreads more happiness in the world. Zappos has used “Delivering Happiness movement” for their marketing strategies such as product lines, online promotion and events. To support their major marketing strategies, they created Tout video contest to share an inspirational story about their audience’s happiness.

• Not only provide a winning prize to the winner, but also give a small gift like a $25 gift card to people who reply to your Touts and show appreciation of participation.

4. Create the behind the scenes Tout

You don’t have to make an event or happenings for your Touts. Just show your company as it is! Natural states are the key points of the behind the scenes Tout to make a friendly image and to be closer with your followers and customers. What can retailers learn from this?

• Types of the behind the scenes Touts

1) Employee recognition Highlight your team who works behind your company and make your audience feel like they are congratulating together. Through this public employee recognition, you can motivate your employees to make more efforts into their work and personify your Touts through emotional connections with your audience. Example: Tim Dakay’s employee of week Tout (@WhiteCollarUSA) 2) Work environment Take your audience inside of your company to make a transparent image and to differentiate your company from competitors. Open the curtains and show where you are working at and how you are running your business. 3) Backstage of events Openly share your event backstage with your audience. People are naturally curious about what they don’t know and can’t see. Use your Touts to answer their questions within 15 seconds and give them more chances to know more about your brands. Example: Backstage of Obama election night (#Obama)  

5. Make a well-organized Tout video calendar

We’ve talked about many types of Tout video so far. The last strategy for online marketing with Tout is deciding why and when to upload a video. With a well-organized Tout video calendar, you will be able to meet your audience regularly and to make them keep coming back to your Tout channel. Let’s look at the following tips. What can retailers learn from this? 1) First of all, you have to decide what you will accomplish through your Tout  videos. To make sure your online marketing ROI, set a SMART goal: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

• Specific: Make your goal clear and unambiguous and tell your team exactly “5W” questions and answers.
• Measurable:  You must be able to evaluate the result of online marketing ROI by using tools such as Google Analytics. Ask yourself: How much? How many? When can I achieve your goal?
• Attainable: Goals must be realistic and be neither underestimated nor overestimated. Ask yourself: How can the goal be accomplished?
• Relevant: Goals must be important to you, your team, and company. Ask yourself: Is it valuable? Does it match our needs? Am I the right person?
• Time-bound: Goals must be achieved within a time frame. A deadline helps a team make efforts into completion of their assignments. Ask yourself: When (Daily? Weekly? Monthly?)

2) Themes

• To avoid confusion, pick a right topic and a theme of each Tout to divide into various categories such as events, the behind the scenes Touts, products, trends, and so forth. It will help you brainstorm more ideas about your Touts, target specific audience, and decide when to upload a video depending on a type, a topic, and a theme.

3) You can simply make a calendar with these following tools:

• Microsoft Excel
• Google Calendar, Note, Document, or Spreadsheet
• WordPress Editorial Calendar Plugin. And more….

*Note: Place your calendar where everyone can see it, touch it, and live it. Are you ready to experience this new online social networking service? Tout will change how you interact, share, and communicate with your audience in full color, sound, and motion.

Tout It Out!

  by Adella Choi, Content Marketer